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EXCAVATING 
A HUSBAND 


BY 

Ella Bell Wallis 

II 



THE McLEAN COMPANY 

Publishers 

BALTIMORE. MD. 




M 14 1917 


©CLA470040 

I 

V ' 


I 


Copyright 

1916 

Ella Sell Wallis 


EXCAVATING 
A HUSBAND 


Katherine Boulby had reached her fiftieth year, 
and all these years had been spent in single bless- 
edness. It is true that she had not realized the 
entirety of the perfect calm and peace that 
abides in the maiden state, for her brother 
Joseph and she lived together. But Miss Kath- 
erine — ^as she was commonly called in her na- 
tive town — was of a cheerful disposition and 
said that she felt she was indeed blessed 
among women, as she had graciously been 
endowed with sense enough to choose a free 
and unfettered life, and the vexations and limita- 
tions contingent upon the proximity of one of the 
male sex, had been mitigated as much as possible 
for her as her brother was a quiet, fairly pliant 
man who rarely interfered with her plans for 
broadening and enriching her mind. 

This mental culture was Miss Katherine’s chief 
aim in life, and it was not a selfish one. She never 
refused to give abundantly of her knowledge, and 
ever strove to correct and purify the literary and 
artistic tastes of her friends. It would be quite 


2 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


impossible to state upon what lines Miss Katherine 
pursued her mental cultivation, for, like the great 
geniuses, she was extremely versatile, and in al- 
most every subject she described an avenue which, 
if followed to the end would lead at last to the 
goal whither she was bound. As Miss Katherine 
strayed from one path to another in the great laby- 
rinth of learning, it is very probable that she was 
inextricably lost and didn’t know it. But she 
found pleasure and sustenance therein, and never 
sought to find herself. 

Now, it is far from my purpose to represent my 
heroine as a blue-stocking or as other than a most 
charming person. Had she pursued her studies 
methodically and scientifically she might not have 
been the same delightful woman that she was, but 
she flitted from romantic prose to didactic poetry 
and from poetry to astrology, and thence to archi- 
tecture, history or biology. In Miss Katherine 
you found a person who possessed a rare instinct 
concerning hobbies. She never became so ab- 
struse as to be unintelligible to her friends who 
were not hobbyists. She dealt in interesting and 
easy generalities. 

In fact. Miss Katherine was one of a type the 
world cannot spare. Of good, sound, common 
sense she possessed the usual allotment, but in 
rare, child-like enthusiasm and love of romance 
she was richly endowed. It is true that at times 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


3 


everything but romantic fancies seemed expelled 
from her mind, but the complications thus arising 
were of no moment when all the brightness and 
zest she infused into life were considered. It was 
psychologically impossible for Miss Katherine to 
view the commonplace occurrences of everyday 
life in the same light as do most of us. She found 
in a very ordinary event the nucleus of something 
interesting and romantic. So you see there was 
nothing of the blue-stocking about my heroine. 

There is another matter upon which the reader 
must be clear. One might think from Miss Kath- 
erine’s fervent thankfulness for her single state 
that she had an aversion to men. Such was the 
case only in theory. It seemed more fitting for 
a single woman of artistic temperament to avow 
a distaste for the society of the coarser sex, but in 
reality she got along rather better with men than 
women. As a rule, men are better listeners than 
women, and Miss Katherine found them more dis- 
posed to listen to her latest ideas and freshest as- 
pirations than were women. She did not credit 
these listeners with ability to understand all she 
was saying and this incapacity in man was the 
reason she had never married. She had a sus- 
ceptible heart, but it would respond only to him 
who would understand her. She was not at all 
averse to marriage and kept a vigilant eye upon 
the horizon that she might catch the first possible 


4 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


glimpse of the romantic figure she confidently ex- 
pected would one day loom thereon. His appear- 
ance was long delayed, and, while Miss Katherine 
did not mourn because of this, still she wisely con- 
sidered moving to where she would view a new 
and broader horizon. 

One day she came upon the following advertise- 
ment: 

“For Rent — Furnished house, property of Cap- 
tain Peter Shannon; delightful situation, attrac- 
tive and comfortable house ; garden contains very 
choice plants and shrubs. Apply, W. J. Skinner, 
Ocean View.” 

“There!” exclaimed Miss Katherine to her 
brother, “isn’t it delightful to find just what we 
want with so little trouble ?” 

“How do you know it’s just what we want?” 
asked Joseph, who had partially consented to his 
sister’s suggestion that they rent a house near 
the sea during the spring and summer. 

Miss Katherine did not possess any occult power 
by which she could visualize the property adver- 
tised, but she did have a remarkable faculty for 
reading between lines. It often happened that 
she found there that which defied every other in- 
terpretation, but this was possibly owing to her 
highly developed imagination. She had so often 
urged her brother to develop this quality, that 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


5 


now his utter lack of imagination made her reply 
crisply — 

“How do I know? Because my mind has cer- 
tain qualities that I see yours will never possess, 
and besides I think a little. Now consider this ad- 
vertisement with the aid of a very little imagi- 
nation and common sense. The owner is a sea 
captain. That is a volume in itself to me. Sailors 
are very fond of the picturesque, so I should ex- 
pect Captain Shannon’s house to be delightfully 
situated, quaint and comfortable. I can’t imagine 
anyone from whom I’d rather buy property than 
from such a man as Captain Shannon must be,” 
concluded Miss Katherine. 

“Why don’t he live in it himself, then, if it’s 
such a fine place?” inquired Joseph with an at- 
tempt at sarcasm which was quite beyond him. 

“Can he live in a house on the land and sail on 
the sea at the same time?” demanded his dis- 
gusted sister. 

“Well, if I had such a place as you say it is I 
wouldn’t be risking my neck on the sea. I’d stay 
right there and raise vegetables,” returned Joseph. 

Joseph was several years older than his sister 
and as he had just retired from business with the 
intention of spending the remainder of his days in 
peace and calm, he thought it wise not to jeopar- 
dize this residue of his life by running counter to 
any fixed idea of his sister. But in yielding to 


6 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


Miss Katherine’s strong desire to spend the spring 
and summer near the sea, Joseph was not solely 
actuated by fear of her displeasure. He thought 
that a few months of undisturbed gardening would 
be the purest possible happiness, so readily con- 
sented to Miss Katharine’s going to view the place 
for rent. She went, she saw and she was capti- 
vated. Such a view! Such a garden! Nothing 
could be more delightful. 

Ocean View was not far distant from their 
home, so the day after his sister’s’ return Joseph 
set out to see the house for himself. He found 
Miss Katherine’s praise very just. It was indeed 
a most pleasant place, and though the garden 
sadly needed care, that fact, in Joseph’s eyes, did 
not detract from the desirability of the place. 
Beneath a very impassive exterior he concealed a 
tenderness and real passion for flowers and a gar- 
den. He had passed his days in his hardware shop 
among unlovely objects, and had never gratified 
this one passion, which was still strong. But now 
Joseph thought of the long spring and summer 
days spent in the garden, and went in haste to in- 
terview the agent. 

“Captain Shannon’s place, eh?” said Mr. Skin- 
ner. “It used to be a pretty place when the Cap- 
tain lived there, and I have had good tenants who 
have kept it up pretty well, but we didn’t rent it 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


7 


last year so it’s grown up rather wild. Would 
you happen to be fond of flowers, now?” 

Upon Joseph’s replying that he was, Mr. Skin- 
ner continued: 

“Captain Shannon lived there only two years 
when he took to sea again. I don’t know 
whether he’s dead or alive, for that’s seven 
years ago, and I’ve never seen or heard from 
him since. I send the rent to his bank in New 
York, but it’s my opinion that he’s gone 
where he don’t need money, for if he was alive 
why wouldn’t be come back and spend the rest of 
his days here? He ain’t’ a young man by any 
means, about sixty, I think. But I was going to 
tell you why I asked if you were fond of flowers. 
The Captain was crazy about them and kept a 
record of all his choice plants. That book’s in the 
library now. Well, when he told me he was going 
to sea again and asked to rent the place, he said 
to get a tenant that would look after the plants. 
It just seemed to me he wanted to stay, but the 
sea pulled too strong for him and he had to go. 
But now if you like pottering round in a garden, 
that’s just the place for you.” 

Joseph felt it was but did not express himself 
too strongly until he had concluded a very good 
bargain. 

To Miss Katherine’s extreme delight Joseph 
was ready to move to Ocean View without delay. 


8 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


She had drawn from him all the information con- 
cerning Captain Shannon that he had obtained 
from Mr. Skinner. She had immediately jumped 
to the conclusion that the Captain had been lost 
at sea. To tell the truth, although she had as ten- 
der a heart as woman ever possessed, the owner’s 
tragic end rather increased her delight in her sur- 
roundings. It wasn’t every day one had the op- 
portunity of handling things that had belonged to 
one for whom fate had destined such a tragic end. 

It was towards the books in the library that she 
felt most reverently. Not for a moment could she 
forget that these books had been selected, read 
and loved by Captain Peter Shannon, victim of 
the cavernous seas. But soon she came to value 
the books for themselves, for she found them 
much to her taste. There was nothing in litera- 
ture that so captivated Miss Katherine as tales 
of daring on land or sea, and of these the Cap- 
tain’s’ library was full. 

“Captain Shannon must have been a very in- 
teresting man,” she remarked rather sadly to Jo- 
seph. “I can tell by his books. His tastes were 
just like mine,” she added naively. 

“Don’t let your mind run on him too much, 
Katie,” advised Joseph. “It would only lead to 
disappointment, for he’s most likely drowned or 
dead, it don’t matter which.” 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


9 


“I’d try to exercise a little common sense, Jo- 
seph Boulby,” returned his sister acidly. 

“Why, ain’t I ?” asked Joseph. “I don’t see any- 
thing unreasonable about warning you not to set 
your heart upon a dead man. There’s not much 
chance of a corpse coming to life these days.” 

Joseph’s delight in his garden was actually mak- 
ing him facetious. 

However strongly Miss Katharine became con- 
vinced that, had he lived, there would have been a 
strong affinity and perhaps something more be- 
tween Captain Shannon and herself, she did not 
become depressed. But without doubt there en- 
tered into Miss Katherine’s heart a sentiment that 
she had never experienced before. 

In a closet full of rubbish she found a portrait 
of a seamanly looking, heavily whiskered man. 
This she rightly conjectured to be a feeble attempt 
to reproduce on canvas Captain Shannon’s noble 
countenance. She tastefully framed the portrait 
and hung it over the books she fancied he had best 
loved. 

Having made an exhaustive examination of the 
books on the library shelves. Miss Katherine 
turned her attention to the papers which the 
table and desk contained. She felt no compunc- 
tion in doing this, although she rarely meddled 
with the affairs of others. But to Captain Shan- 


10 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


non’s personal papers she felt she had a peculiar- 
right, a sort of spiritual right. 

What she found among these papers was of such 
interest and import that she rushed at once to 
find her brother. 

“Joseph! Joseph Boulby!” she gasped. “You’ll 
never guess what I’ve found! The log of a 
schooner! Captain Shannon’s schooner. He was 
shipwrecked and the schooner was lost but — I’ll 
read it to you, Joseph: ‘Log of Schooner Fare- 
thee-weir — isn’t that a fine name — ‘Peter Shan- 
non owner and master. 

“ ‘May 17, ’05. 

“ ‘Sailed from Manzanilla with cargo of lumber 
for Panama. Wind blowing strong from N. W. 

“ ‘Made 105 miles. 

“ ‘May 18. 

“ ‘Wind increased in volume. Still running with 
wind on starboard beam. Unable to make an ob- 
servation. Made 190 miles by dead reckoning. 

“ ‘May 19. 

“ ‘Wind veered slightly to westward and con- 
tinued to freshen. Glass falling rapidly. Made 
204 miles.’ ” 

“ ‘Above is log of schooner up to May 20, from 
which time it was impossible to keep further 
record until she was beached. Following is story 
of the last voyage of the Fare-thee-well. It was 
written after landing on Cocos Island. 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


11 


“ ‘May 20. Hurricane struck us at four bells in 
the afternoon watch, as nearly as I can remember. 
Called all hands to close reef the mainsail, intend- 
ing to run before wind under storm jib and main- 
sail reefed down, when enormous sea struck us 
washing away mate and two seamen, leaving only 
myself and boy. Schooner heeled so far to port 
that I feared she could not right herself, and 
water covered half the desk. Strain on mainsail 
so great that it snapped about fourteen feet above 
deck carrying sail and top hamper with it. Boy 
and I managed to cut away all stays and shrouds 
and cleared away the wreckage, after which we 
scuddled before the wind under bare poles. With 
help of boy I managed to rig spare topsail from 
stump of mainmast and with storm jib we man- 
aged to keep steerage way upon her. 

“ ‘May 21. Still running before the wind. 

“ ‘May 22. Do. 

‘May 23. Do. 

“ ‘May 24. Just before midnight, as near as I can 
remember, schooner struck with terrible force 
and waves swept her from stem to stern. Boy 
carried overboard. Was unable to do anything to 
save him. 

“ ‘May 25. When morning came the sea had 
gone down somewhat and I discovered an island 
about one hundred fathoms on port bow. Was 
afraid vessel would break up so made a raft with 


12 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


what spars and lumber I could get together, and 
taking the log book, a few tools, instruments and 
provisions, I endeavored to reach the land. After 
great difficulty I landed on what proved to be 
Cocos Island.’ ” 

For a moment or two after she had ceased read- 
ing, Miss Katherine remained silent as if over- 
powered. She soon recovered speech however. 

“I thought I had estimated Captain Shannon cor- 
rectly when I said that he was no ordinary man, 
but I don’t believe I did full justice to him. Did 
you notice the style of this narrative, Joseph? It 
is so direct and simple, but forceful and compell- 
ing. I don’t think I would be going too far to say 
that there is the stamp of genius upon this manu- 
script. And his modesty, Joseph ! Nothing about 
his wonderful seamanship that kept the ship afloat 
or about the quick wittedness and strength that 
saved him, or about his sojourn on the island or 
his daring escape from it !” 

“I suppose a ship came along and took him off,” 
said Joseph. “I don’t see any daring in that.” 

“Well, if you don’t, I do,” retorted his sister. 
“The idea of a man like Captain Shannon waiting 
for a ship to take him away !” 

“Well, it would be more sensible to wait a spell 
before he started out,” observed Joseph. 

Tenderly disposed as she was to the memory of 
Captain Shannon, Joseph’s remark grated upon 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


13 


Miss Katherine, and she made a very cutting re- 
mark about people who had no fine sensibilities 
themselves and could not feel for others who had. 
However, she forgave and forgot very quickly, and 
the next evening she confided to Joseph a most 
important discovery. 

“You remember that I read last night that 
Captain Shannon had been on Cocos Island?” she 
asked. 

Joseph replied that he remembered all she had 
read to him. 

“Well,” continued Miss Katherine, “the name 
of that island bothered me all night, and to-day I 
set to work to find out what I had heard about it. 
This is what I found in the encyclopedia : 

“ ‘Cocos Island, volcanic island in the Pacific 
Ocean, S. W. of Costa Rica, with steep rugged 
coasts and quite level interior; comprises about 
nine square miles, is uninhabited and is reported 
to have been the place of concealment of treasure, 
jewelry and plate sent there by wealthy inhabi- 
tants of Spanish colonies on the neighboring main- 
land early in the nineteenth century, during the 
wars in which they achieved their independence 
from Spain. The belief that many of these val- 
uables have never been recovered led to a number 
of unsuccessful search expeditions.’ 

“They have never been recovered, Joseph,” re- 
peated Miss Katherine with glistening eyes. “Did 


14 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


you note the significance of that? The treasure 
was there when Captain Shannon landed on the 
island, and there he was alone on the island, with 
provisions enough to enable him to remain there 
a considerable time, with tools to aid him in a 
complete search, and with a raft to carry him to 
the mainland when he had found the object of his 
search. What do you think now, Joseph?” 

“He must have had a devil of a time landing on 
that island in a raft if the coast is rugged and 
steep, as it says,” remarked Joseph irrelevantly. 

Miss Katherine wanted to shake her brother, 
but she brought wile instead of strength to her 
aid. Joseph was known among his neighbors to 
be “a little close.” He certainly regarded with re- 
spect and almost reverence whatever represented 
a good sum of dollars. 

“That treasure must have been worth millions 
of dollars,” began Miss Katherine. “Even if Cap- 
tain Shannon discovered or brought away only a 
small part of it, there would have been great 
wealth in that part.” 

“But he might not have known anything about 
it,” interposed Joseph, who was becoming inter- 
ested. 

“The idea !” exclaimed his sister, “Captain Shan- 
non not to know all about Cocos Island !” 

But Joseph wasn’t to be scorned off well taken 
ground, and maintained that the Captain had had 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


15 


too much sense to put dependence in such yarns 
as that. 

Miss Katherine began very patiently: 

“It isn’t a yarn, but a well substantiated fact 
that every sea captain would know. But I have 
good reasons for believing he found it,’’ concluded 
Miss Katherine mysteriously. 

Miss Katherine closed her lips tightly as if 
she knew a great deal but was resolved to make 
no more disclosures to a skeptic. She acted very 
wisely, for curiosity is not confined exclusively to 
females. Joseph resisted as long as he could and 
then said in a gruffly apologetic tone : 

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Katie; but I was 
trying to see all sides of the case. Would you have 
any idea where he put the money and valuables, if 
he found them?” 

Miss Katherine was quite mollified. 

“I wouldn’t want to say that I knew exactly 
where he put them, but I’ll tell you what I’ve de- 
duced from the facts of the case. One would sup- 
pose that Captain Shannon had put all his money 
into his schooner which was lost, but notwith- 
standing that he immediately settles here and 
spends a good deal of money upon this property. 
I am convinced that that money was part of the 
treasure he found on Cocos Island.” 

Miss Katherine paused impressively. 


16 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


“Where is the rest?” asked her brother in al- 
most child-like faith. 

“Fate destined the Captain to be a victim of the 
sea, so he had to leave, and he thought to himself 
that he wanted his treasure to fall into the hands 
of some kindred spirit, should he never return. 
Captain Shannon is a man whom few under- 
stand, but I am convinced that I do. He was a 
man of strong human sympathy — ” 

“Yes, Katie, dear,” interrupted Joseph meekly. 
“What you say is perfectly correct, but what were 
you going to say about the treasure?” 

“I was just about to explain it all, Joseph. He 
wanted his treasure to fall into the hands of some 
kindred spirit, should he never return, some one 
who would be able to deduce his idea from the 
clews he left behind. First he leaves instructions 
that only congenial people are to rent this prop- 
erty, then he leaves his diary. Then he says to 
himself, Tf the person that reads this diary is 
really interested in me, that person will find out 
the history of Cocos Island and infer my discov- 
ery of the treasure. And then he thought it would 
be but a short step to the actual finding of the 
treasure.’ ” 

“Humph !” grunted Joseph. “A short step ? In 
what direction I’d like to know?” 

“I am not prepared to say exactly where it is,” 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


17 


explained Miss Katherine, “but my theory is that 
it is secreted about the house or garden.” 

“If it’s in that garden,” began Joseph, energeti- 
cally but was interrupted. 

“We must be very guarded and no one must 
suspect our purpose,” cautioned Miss Katherine. 
“We cannot tell to what ends people might go if it 
was discovered that there was a great treasure 
concealed here. We will have to be careful about 
admitting strangers to the house or garden. It is 
very probable that some sailors, friends of Captain 
Shannon’s, might have suspected this, for I never 
read a treasure story yet where someone didn’t 
make trouble.” 

Twice that night, after Miss Katherine had re- 
tired to rest, she almost rose from her bed at the 
thought that the house was in a most unfortified 
state. Whether she expected to see John Silver, 
wooden leg, urbanity and all, climbing in at the 
window, I can not say, but she felt so insecure that 
it was long after midnight when she fell asleep. 
She dreamed that Captain Shannon and she were 
sailing away to Cocos Island and he was telling her 
that all the jewels there were hers if she would 
only take him, too. Ah ! the futility of the sweet- 
est dreams ! 

But the next day Miss Katherine had the treas- 
ure searching problem well in hand. Her mind 
had at once turned to the classic on this subject. 


18 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


and she hastened to find “Poe’s Purloined Letter” 
and “Gold Bug.” Therein she found many possible 
methods and studied in detail the house-searching 
methods of the Parisian commissaire de police. 
She imparted something of what she had learned 
to Joseph, but he didn’t have any faith in ‘yarns.’ 
His fingers were itching to use the spade and pick- 
axe, but this Miss Katherine strictly forbade as 
yet. 

The next day she continued her studies and was 
in a most interesting and instructive part when 
the door bell rang. She knew that Mrs. White, 
their only maid, was so employed that she could 
not go to the door. Reluctantly she laid down her 
book and answered the ring. A well-built, fresh, 
clean shaven man of about sixty regarded Miss 
Katherine pleasantly as he inquired if Mr. Boulby 
were home. Upon being informed that Mr. Boulby 
was not home, the stranger said that with permis- 
sion he would step in and explain his business. 
The line of thought upon which Miss Katherine 
had been intent for the past few days had inclined 
her to be suspicious, and she regarded the stran- 
ger with a distrustful eye. He, however, was 
quite unobservant of this attitude toward him- 
self, and he stepped into the hall. Miss Katherine 
was compelled to conduct him to the library, the 
other rooms being in the throes of house-cleaning. 
As the stranger entered that room his eye fell 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


19 


immediately upon Captain Shannon’s portrait 
which occupied a very conspicuous place. He 
seemed struck by it, and as Miss Katherine turned 
to offer him a chair she saw him gazing at it with 
great interest. 

“Ah, you observe Captain Shannon’s portrait,” 
said Miss Katherine in a pleased voice. “We have 
just come here, but I am greatly interested in the 
Captain. I found the portrait in a closet and 
framed it. I think it is a remarkable face, don’t 
you ?” 

The question seemed to confuse the stranger. 

“I-er-do you?” he stammered. “I-er-I believe I 
have met the Captain, oh, I mean I knew him 
quite well. Now, er, well really what is remark- 
able about the face?” 

“There is so much remarkable about it, to me,” 
returned Miss Katherine. “There is unusual 
strength in ever feature, it seems to me, and the 
face is a most interesting and attractive one.” 

The stranger’s hand crept to his face where it 
went through the motions of clutching a beard, 
an adornment which he lacked. He gazed stupidly 
from the portrait to Miss Katherine and back 
again to the portrait. He spoke in a very hesitat- 
ing and uncertain way. 

“Did you say — ^that you — er — ^found the portrait 
in a closet — er — and went to the trouble of fram- 
ing it?” 


20 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


“Yes, that is quite correct. But it was no trou- 
ble, only a pleasure and the contemplation of those 
features has amply repaid me,” replied Miss Kath- 
erine. 

“It — er — will naturally be very gratifying to — 
er — ^the captain — ah — when he returns — ah — ^to 
find his portrait so — er — highly valued,” observed 
the man. 

“I’m sure I couldn’t say about that as the poor 
Captain was drowned, at least he is supposed to 
have been lost at sea. But I believe him to have 
been a very modest man, and I doubt whether it 
would really gratify him to see his portrait there.” 

The stranger’s hand again went to his face, and 
as it was a large hand almost covered the features. 

“I hadn’t heard,” he began in a very throaty 
voice, “I — I — didn’t know that the Captain — ah — 
wasn’t — er — what you just said, you know.” 

Miss Katherine observed the stranger sympa- 
thetically. He had evidently been a friend of the 
Captain and felt his loss. 

“Sit down, sir,” she said kindly, “I see you feel 
this, and no wonder. Of course in cases like this 
one is never sure just what has happened; but it 
is believed that Captain Shannon must have met 
with some misfortune as he has not been heard 
from for seven years.” 

“Oh! seven years!” repeated the man. “Ah, I 
see.” 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


21 


“It is a pity that such a man as Captain Shan- 
non should be cut off in his prime,” sighed Miss 
Katherine. 

“Ah, you think that the late captain was — er — a 
— ah — some good in the world?” inquired the 
stranger. 

“I am very sure he was that and a most charm- 
ing man besides,” replied Miss Katherine, her eyes 
dwelling admiringly and wistfully on the portrait. 

“The Captain should be hap— ah, I mean — er — it 
is pleasant — er — I should say, madam, that — ah — 
in fact I am detaining you,” he lucidly concluded, 

“Not at all, returned Miss Katherine affably. 
“If you would explain your business I might serve 
in place of my brother, or I can tell him you called, 
Mr. ” 

“Oh — a — Murphy,” supplied the stranger has- 
tily. “I knew this place was for rent but didn’t 
know whether it had been taken or not so I 
thought I’d see about it. It would suit me splen- 
didly. Would you — ah — could you consider a 
lodger, madam ?” 

“Well, really,” replied Miss Katherine very 
pleasantly — ^the man was very gentlemanly and 
not at all ordinary — “really, I’m afraid not, al- 
though I should very much like to accommodate 
you.” 

“Oh, that’s alright,” Mr. Murphy assured her. 


22 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


“It’s a nice healthy spot and I think I’ll spend a 
few months here — ^to — er — recover my health.” 

Miss Katherine looked at his fresh face and vig- 
orous frame in some surprise, whereupon Mr. 
Murphy made haste to explain: 

“I am feeling very much better now, but not 
quite right. I — ^ah — should be able to lift five 
hundred pounds. Well now. I’ll just say good 
morning and I’ll see if I can get suitable lodgings 
somewhere near. I feel — er — ^that our common 
friendship for the late Captain Shannon should 
be — ah— a sort of bond, so to speak, between us, 
so I shall drop in to see you again.” 

Miss Katherine gave him a very cordial invita- 
tion to come and see her brother and herself fre- 
quently. 

When the door had closed upon Mr. Murphy, a 
shade passed over her face and she betook herself 
again to the library. Could it be that this stran- 
ger was a spy ? Had he really known the Captain 
and suspected the existence of the treasure? Was 
he going to stay in the vicinity to keep watch upon 
them? Miss Katherine trembled as she thought 
of what might have become of Joseph and herself 
if she had taken him as a lodger. But here poor 
Miss Katherine’s heart suffered a pang, for she 
thought of the gentlemanly deportment and at- 
tractive appearance of her visitor. He had seemed 
quite impressed with her, too. There was no de- 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


23 


nying it. She rose from the chair with a sigh 
and walked about the room. 

“I must hide the book, anyway,” she exclaimed 
aloud. “There’s no telling what that man was 
after and I’d better put it in a safe place.” 

She took the treasured volume — Capt. Shannon’s 
diary — and, after glancing out of the window to 
make sure she was not watched, she stole cau- 
tiously from the room as if the house were full of 
spies. When she reached the floor above she stood 
still, wondering what hiding places the house af- 
forded. There were not many, she knew, but now 
she could think of none. Downstairs was out of 
the question. Anyone could come in there at night 
and carry it off. The second floor was little better 
for the windows were all open and anyone could 
enter them by means of a ladder. The attic ! Yes, 
that was the only place and Miss Katherine flew up 
the steep stairs to the attic. 

There was a very little light admitted through a 
small window, and when her eyes became accus- 
tomed to the dim light, she saw a trap door in the 
ceiling. Of all places in the world this was the 
most desirable. As luck would have it she found 
an old ladder among the rubbish. One end of this 
she placed against the trap door, then, pushing 
with all her might at the other end, she succeeded 
in raising the door and liberating clouds of dust, 
spiders, dead flies and cob-webs. Though half 


24 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


choked and blinded she proceeded to execute her 
scheme. Placing an end of the ladder in the open- 
ing she endeavored to make it secure from slip- 
ping. Of its strength she was fairly satisfied, but 
she could not feel confident of its equilibrium. 
She did the best she could and then began the per- 
ilous ascent. She held the book in one hand and 
with the other clung fearfully to the rickety lad- 
der. She stood in need of another prehensile mem- 
ber for the rungs of the ladder were worn smooth 
as glass and every upward step was fraught with 
danger. The ladder creaked ominously beneath a 
weight that was far from trifling. However, she 
made a steady progress, and when she had climbed 
as far as she dared, she very cautiously reached 
upward and placed the book upon the rafters. In 
her relief at having placed the book in safety she 
forgot caution and gave the ladder the excuse it 
was looking for. She felt the ladder going and 
frantically grabbed the side of the trap door. It 
was well her arms were not slender ones for they 
had to support her entire weight. The very ceil- 
ing creaked. A severe fall was to be preferred to 
bringing the roof down upon her, so she suddenly 
let go her hold and came crashing down upon the 
floor that quivered to receive its burden. But it 
was only a moment before Miss Katherine was 
suflSciently recovered to assure herself that, as the 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


25 


book was securely hidden nothing else was of con- 
sequence. 

Poor Miss Katherine was bruised all over and 
had considerable difficulty in hiding her physical 
sufferings from Mrs. White, who was a native of 
Ocean View, and therefore it would never do to 
arouse her suspicions. When that lady asked Miss 
Katherine how she got such a bruise on her arm, 
she replied that her flesh bruised at a touch and 
she must have struck it against something. But 
when Mrs. White inadvertently touched Miss 
Katherine upon quite another part of her body 
and she flinched before she recollected caution, 
the aforementioned lady began to wonder, and 
when a woman begins to wonder she soon has 
something to tell. 

When Joseph returned his sister related all that 
had occurred during his absence. 

His evident uneasiness concerning Mr. Mur- 
phy’s motives was quite comforting. It is so 
gloomy to be the only anxious one in the house. 

“He can’t set foot on the property if we forbid 
him,” said Joseph with a determined countenance. 

“But we can’t do that, at least it wouldn’t be 
wise,” remonstrated his sister gently. It was 
soothing to her bruises to note Joseph’s anxiety. 
“He is a perfect gentleman, a man we couldn’t 
treat rudely. He mightn’t be spying at all and 
then we’d look ridiculous, or we might arouse sus- 


26 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


picions in him by over caution. Now my plan is 
to let him call if he cares to, but never to leave 
him alone and to watch all his movements very 
carefully. He might unconsciously give us a clew 
if he has any exact knowledge of the whereabouts 
of the treasure. Now don’t you think that’s the 
wisest course to pursue?” 

Joseph had no wile in his makeup, so would 
have preferred a pugilistic encounter at the gate, 
as the best way of dealing with a spy, but his sis- 
ter was undeniably the leader in this affair, so he 
agreed to remain passive while she matured her 
plan. 

It was well that they made their decision con- 
cerning the stranger when they did for the next 
day, in the afternoon, as Joseph was digging 
among the flowers in the front garden, Mr. Mur- 
phy appeared at the gate. Joseph’s interest in his 
work had driven all thoughts of treasure and 
treasure seekers out of his mind. He supposed it 
to be one of his neighbors and merely looked up 
and nodded to the caller to enter. 

“Good afternoon neighbor,” said Joseph with 
what breath his unwonted exertions allowed him, 
“could you tell me whether it’s too late to separate 
these roots and transplant them ? I think they’re 
too thick, but I don’t want to spoil ’em for blos- 
soming this year. I think a piny is as pretty a 
flower as grows.” 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


27 


“Why, now, I’d think this was about the right 
time to separate the roots, but you want to do it 
right. Now, if you’d just give me the spade I’ll 
show you how to handle it and not cut the roots 
and I’ll separate them, too,” replied Joseph’s neigh- 
bor, throwing off his coat and seizing the spade. 

Joseph stood by and watched for a few mo- 
ments and then trotted off to get himself a spade. 
The two men spaded and puffed until all the peony 
roots lay on the fresh earth. Then the work of 
separation began. The supposed neighbor acted 
as teacher and Joseph was an interested pupil. 

“Bless by soul!” exclaimed Miss Katherine, as 
she looked out of the window. “Mr. Murphy !” 

For almost the first time in her life she exper- 
ienced a pang of jealousy and pique. When she 
had advocated tolerancy towards the suspect, it 
must be confessed that Miss Katherine was in- 
fluenced by more than one consideration. She had 
been inclined to think that if the stranger came 
again, she would be the magnet and not the treas- 
ure. And now here he was pottering around with 
Joseph ! 

She didn’t stay vexed long, for soon she thought 
he might have been coming to see her and Joseph 
in his stupid way had stopped him with questions 
about his flowers. And then he very likely was 
fond of flowers and gardening. All nice men were. 
The Captain had been passionately fond of them. 


28 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


Finally Miss Katherine sallied out with her most 
engaging countenance. 

“So you have pressed Mr. Murphy into service, 
Joseph ?” she asked brightly. 

“Eh?” returned Joseph. How did Kate know 
this neighbor’s name? 

“I haven’t even introduced myself to your 
brother, Miss Boulby,” explained Mr. Murphy. 
“We have been working so hard I clear forgot.” 

“I mentioned Mr. Murphy’s calling, if you re- 
member,” said Miss Katherine to her brother, 
nudging him sharply. 

“Oh, Mr. Murphy,” repeated Joseph. He recol- 
lected it all now, and being no actor, dared do 
nothing but stare. 

“You must come in to tea,” said Miss Katherine 
to Mr. Murphy, who accepted promptly. 

When his sister became leader in this scene, 
Joseph retired to the background and subsequently 
to the back yard. Miss Katherine conducted her 
guest to the library. Supper would soon be ready. 

“You remind me somewhat of Captain Shan- 
non,” remarked Miss Katherine. 

Mr. Murphy looked rather startled. 

“I mean that you are fond of gardening. I have 
been told that it was a passion with the Captain,” 
explained Miss Katherine. 

“I heard something like that, too, about the Cap- 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


29 


tain,” returned Mr. Murphy, who seemed more 
fluent than upon his first visit. 

“How are you feeling to-day, Mr. Murphy ?” in- 
quired Miss Katherine kindly. 

“Feeling, — ^feeling?” repeated her guest in a 
puzzled way. 

“Do you think Ocean View will completely re- 
store your health?” explained Miss Katherine. 

“Oh ! Ah, yes !” hastily began Mr. Murphy. “To 
tell you the truth I have been so hearty lately 
that I forget I came here for my health.” 

“Isn’t that lovely!” exclaimed Miss Katherine 
delightedly. 

“Ah — er — ^yes, it is,” replied her guest help- 
lessly. He was unaccustomed to feminine effus- 
iveness. 

“I — ah — really I find that Captain Shannon in- 
terests me. Would you tell me something more 
about him?” asked Mr. Murphy. 

“I suppose it is some years since you knew 
him?” interrogated Miss Katherine, and, as her 
guest made a rather unintelligible reply, she con- 
tinued : 

“I have gathered very little from others con- 
cerning Captain Shannon, but I have deduced a 
great deal. I don’t think there is any class of 
people so interesting as sailors, and especially 
captains. They are daring, picturesque, roman- 
tic, don’t you think?” — Mr. Murphy scratched his 


30 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


head as if he would make an inlet for these new 
ideas. — “Paul Jones, Long Tom and even Captain 
Kidd were such captivating characters.” — Mr. 
Murphy changed off to the other hand. — “On this 
account I was disposed to admire Captain Shan- 
non, and when I noticed the books he had read and 
loved I admired him much more. I have always 
told my brother that a man is charming in propor- 
tion to his love of tales of daring and chivalry and 
romance.” 

Here the tide of Miss Katherine’s eloquence 
was interrupted by an eager gesture from her 
listener. 

“If Captain Shannon set such store by those 
books, I believe I’ll have a try at them,” he said. 

Miss Katherine’s face glowed. Here was a man ! 
She went to the shelves and read over the names. 
Seeing Mr. Murphy’s lips moving as if he were 
committing them to memory she offered to make 
a list for him. This was too great a kindness! 
How much he would value it ! 

All this and more that followed on the same 
lines raised Mr. Murphy to a great height in Miss 
Katherine’s estimation. Through strict vigilance 
he succeeded in maintaining this exalted position. 

Though other matters might temporarily thrust 
aside her central subject of interest, Miss Kathe- 
rine invariably returned to it. The morning after 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


31 


Mr. Murphy’s second visit she set to work in ear- 
nest to obtain a clew to the hiding place of Cap- 
tain Shannon’s treasure. Where was she to begin ? 
She was well informed on the subject of secret 
drawers and closets and she knew that one was apt 
to stumble upon them unawares. An inadvertent 
touch upon a panel, the slightest pressure on some 
bit of carving might expose the most cleverly con- 
cealed hiding place. 

For this reason Miss Katherine experienced 
more or less uneasiness when Mrs. White was not 
directly under her eye. She found excuses to fol- 
low her about constantly, until that honest woman, 
being of ordinary penetration, concluded that she 
was not thought strictly trustworthy. As she 
was a very sensible being she decided that 
it was not unreasonable for Miss Boulby, an 
entire stranger, to keep an eye on her. She had 
heard of such snbstantials as butter, meat and 
flour disappearing through the back door, through 
the agency of the domestic, so she offered to 
get a testimonial from the minister. Miss 
Katherine saw her mistake at once and lied 
glibly but not well. She explained that since com- 
ing to that house she had been strangely timid and 
didn’t like to be alone, and if Mrs. White had no- 
ticed her following her about it was for that rea- 
son and no other. To give weight to her assertion, 
she threw in a ghost or two that she had suspected 


32 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


the house of harboring. Miss Katherine would 
not have congratulated herself upon the success 
of her explanation had she known that Mrs. White 
was saying to herself that perhaps all that was 
true and perhaps it wasn’t, but it would be wise 
for her to keep an eye on Miss Boulby. 

Miss Katherine had not yet made a sufficiently 
exhaustive study of Poe’s Prose tales and was 
thus employed in the library the next morning, 
when, happening to glance up from her book, her 
eyes fell upon the great fireplace that occupied 
almost the entire end of the room. Miss Katherine 
received an inspiration. She sat up, straight and 
alert. 

“It is a most likely place,” she said aloud. 

She went over to the fireplace, looked at it care- 
fully and began a careful examination of the old- 
fashioned iron ornamentations. In the centre of 
the mantle was a dog’s head in gilded iron. She 
pinched and pushed him, trying to find a spring in 
his eyes, nose, ears or tail. He remained immov- 
able, however, as did everything else pertaining to 
the mantle. But there was still hope. She lightly 
tapped the brick walls for she had been reading 
Pue’s frightful tale of the black cat, and she had 
learned that an unusual space in a wall could be de- 
tected by a light rap upon it. Miss Katherine’s ear 
was not trained to this sort of divination, but she 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


33 


persevered, testing first a wall she was certain was 
solid and then working on a suspected area. 

Mrs. White had not forgotten her suspicions of 
the previous day and was on the alert. She knew 
Miss Boulby was in the library and when she 
caught the sound of a gently repeated, mysterious 
rapping in that room, she tiptoed to the door and 
applied her eye to the keyhole. What she saw 
would have made anyone inquire whether Miss 
Boulby were in possession of her senses or if she 
never had had any. She was down upon her knees 
before the hearth, gently tapping the bricks and 
listening intently to the sound she produced. 

“My stars alive !” whispered Mrs. White to her- 
self as she rose on trembling limbs, “what’s she 
after or is she crazy? It’s my belief she’s stark 
crazy.” 

Unable to satisfactorily answer her own query 
she crept back to the kitchen, where she sat down 
and faced the situation. Was she not in danger by 
remaining there with a lunatic? She shivered 
when she thought that she very likely had been 
within an inch of death when Miss Boulby had 
taken to following her around. Thank goodness, 
she had taken to tearing the house to bits and not 
her ! Mrs. White resolved to have a bad attack of 
sciatica that very night and to leave the next 
morning. Meanwhile she would be constantly on 
guard. 


34 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


All unsuspecting this attitude on Mrs. White’s 
part. Miss Katherine was preparing for bed that 
night and thinking about the unfortunate impres- 
sion she had made upon Mrs. White. 

“She is a good and sensible woman,” said Miss 
Katherine to herself. “I should be very sorry to 
hurt her feelings or awaken any suspicions in 
her, but — I declare to goodness I’ve never 
searched the cellar and that’s one of the likeliest 
places. I can’t possibly do it in the daytime for 
she goes there so frequently. I’d just better slip 
down now and have a look.” 

So saying. Miss Katherine slipped a heavy wrap- 
per over her night dress, drew on her stockings 
and slippers, and with the extreme caution that 
makes every board in a floor creak and every joint 
in one’s body crack, she proceeded down the stairs. 

Now this stealthy tread was just what Mrs. 
White’s ears was expecting. 

“She’s prowling round the house,” whispered 
that lady to herself. “It’s a mercy I didn’t fall 
asleep.” 

Having located the enemy, Mrs. White slipped 
out in cautious pursuit. She heard Miss Kathe- 
rine enter into the kitchen and open the cellar 
door and start down the stairs. She stole out the 
front way and went round the house to a cellar 
window. When she arrived at that vantage point 
she beheld Miss Katherine standing in the centre 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


35 


of the cellar, holding a lamp above her head that 
she might first get a good general view before be- 
ginning particular investigations. 

“This is a difficult task,” she said aloud, “the 
cellar is so large that it would take me all night 
to sound all the walls. Now, would there be an 
old iron-bound sea-chest, the kind sailors hide 
things in, in a corner here?” 

Holding her lamp well above her head, she slow- 
ly turned herself about that she might see every 
corner. 

Now it happened that old Tabby had just pre- 
sented the thankless household with a family of 
kittens. She had thought that some straw that 
lay in a comer of the cellar would be a soft, safe 
bed for her babies, and as a broken window pro- 
vided ingress and egress for herself, she had taken 
possession of the corner. Old Tabby’s guard over 
her family was most vigilant, but she had not 
been disturbed until this strange figure made its 
appearance in the centre of the cellar. 

As Miss Katherine brought her light to bear 
upon Tabby’s corner, the watcher at the window, 
who knew nothing of the family in the cellar, be- 
held the lamp dashed to the ground and heard a 
terrified but half -suppressed shriek and then fly- 
ing footsteps. She did not wait to see or hear 
more but stole upstairs as fast as she could in a 


36 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


panic, not knowing but that she might meet the 
maniac on the stairs. 

‘T’ll be crazy, too, if I stay here any longer,” she 
said to herself. “If I’m spared till morning I’ll 
get out of this.” 

She put all the movable furniture in her room 
against the door, sent up a fervent prayer for pro- 
tection and got into bed, but not with the intention 
of sleeping. 

The next morning she informed Miss Boulby 
that she was far from well, was all crippled with 
sciatica and would have to leave. Her pale face 
corroborated her words and reluctantly Miss Kath- 
erine let her go. 

I should like now to turn the reader’s attention 
to our friend, Mr. Murphy. That gentleman had 
found comfortable lodgings and seemed to be get- 
ting much attached to Ocean View. By watching 
rather closely one might suspect that he wished to 
avoid the adults of Ocean View, excepting Mr. and 
Miss Boulby. He called upon them pretty fre- 
quently. The boys of the neighborhood found 
his society very entertaining and followed in a 
pack at his heels. He did not always welcome this 
following, however, for he often put a hook in his 
pocket and rambled along the shore until he found 
just the right spot where he could sit and read 
undisturbed. He had taken to doing this imme- 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


37 


diately after his second call at the Boulby’s. The 
books he carried at first bore the mark of Ocean 
View Public Library. But one afternoon when he 
had found his favored spot, he drew from his pock- 
et a glistening new volume. 

“Gosh darn it!” muttered Mr. Murphy, as he 
regarded the book, “if I’d ever thought I’d come 
to this I suppose I’d ’ve drowned myself.” 

He leafed over the book and looked at the llus- 
trations. 

“It ain’t dull reading anyway. It might be 
worse. They say Cooper was a clever man so I 
guess it won’t spoil my intellect to read ’em. But 
it does beat all how tenants use things. To think 
of those brand new books looking like that !” 

Mr. Murphy turned to the first chapter and be- 
gan “The Pilot.” He became very much interested 
therein and read on till the greyness of the page 
told him that it was growing late. He closed the 
book, put it in his pocket, stretched out his legs 
and gazed across the water. 

“I’ll be damned if it isn’t the best of any of ’em, 
and I’ve read upwards of two dozen now. Well, 
I’d never have believed it. You’ll come to almost 
anything in this world, that’s my belief. But it 
does take a woman to give you the push that starts 
you down.” 

He meditated silently for sometime, but began 
again to hold audible commune with himself. “I 


38 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


wonder if IVe got the correct picture in my head 
of that knight of the waves hanging up in that 
library ? It would be a good pattern to model my- 
self after if the elements of all those high quali- 
ties ain’t in me already. By dam, that’s it ! They 
are in me all the time, too, and I don’t realize it. 
They just need bringin’ to the surface, excavating 
’em so to speak. ‘Daring’ was one of ’em — ^well, I 
never was called a coward. ‘Picturesque’ — ^that’s 
a hard one to come at. Now an Indian dressed up 
in his war togs, or a Mexican or even a cowboy 
would have some claim on that quality, but I’ll be 
darned what a plain, sober. God-fearing man can 
do to be it and keep the respect of his mates. I’m 
doubtful of making that one. If I remember right 
she claimed he was ‘romantic.’ ” Mr. Murphy 
kicked the pebbles about and then resumed his 
monologue. “It wouldn’t be as hard to make that 
one as the other one. I’ve got half a dozen 
to steer by in any one of the books I’ve been pour- 
ing down me. Let me see, though, she mentioned 
two or three : Captain Kidd was among ’em, I re- 
member. I’d hate to have to carry on my con- 
science all he must have had on his, if that’s nec- 
essary to qualify. But I’ve heard he wore stun- 
ning whiskers and that’s probably what took her 
eye. I can’t call the others to mind but I’m bound 
to hit on them soon if my eyes don’t give out.” 

The lengthening shadows warned Mr. Murphy 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


39 


that it was past supper time, so he rose, stretched 
himself and started homeward. 

All this time we have been ignoring Joseph, who 
had again fallen into the even tenor of his way. 
The vision of gold that had for a time disturbed 
his tranquility had vanished almost as suddenly 
as it had arisen. Such flights of imagination were 
not for him and he was leading a life of perfect 
content when a malicious sprite stumbled upon 
him and marked him for her own. 

Joseph and Willie Brown, a neighbor’s boy, were 
spading up the ground where he had decided to re- 
plant his currant bushes. Mr. Murphy had been 
sauntering about and had pulled a book out of his 
pocket and departed when Joseph’s unlucky spade 
threw up something which, in hitting aainst a 
stone, had given forth such a clear, ringing sound 
that he stooped down and felt about in the fresh 
earth. His Angers closed upon something cold, 
flat and round. He rubbed it against his overalls 
until a piece of gold milled like a coin came to view. 
In a moment his mind had made the connection be- 
tween his sister’s theories and his discovery. He 
stood gazing at the piece of gold. “Holy Moses !” 
he softly ejaculated. 

Suddenly he remembered Willie. He had found 
but a clew to the treasure. Where was the bulk 
of it? Willie suspected something already. Jo- 


40 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


seph looked at the boy, then at the gold piece, and 
then at the place where he had found it. I have 
remarked before that there was no strategy in 
Joseph’s nature. He seized Willie by the arm and 
marched him towards the house. 

“That ground’s too hard for currant bushes,” 
he said to the astonished boy. “We won’t work 
any more to-day.” 

However, Willie felt he had no cause for com- 
plaint, as Joseph gave him a whole day’s pay and 
Miss Katherine filled his pockets with cookies. 

Brother and sister now held a consultation and 
decided that they must be up and doing. Miss 
Katherine believed that they were in imminent 
danger of having their treasure looted. 

“I know boys,” she said, “they’re all eyes and 
ears. He saw what you found before you did and 
he’ll tell all the rest of the boys and they’ll come 
in the night and carry the whole thing away. I 
think we’d better not go out to that spot again 
to-day for you can depend upon it, he’s watching. 
He’ll forget about it by night and then we can 
go out with the lantern.” 

Now, Willie Brown was like all other boys. 
After being dismissed by Mr. Boulby he sat down 
in the comer of a fence and thought. A light 
broke in upon him after a few moments of silent 
meditation. 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


41 


“I’ll bet yuh anything!” he almost yelled, slap- 
ping his leg, “that’s it I” 

True to the terrible oath he had sworn, he was 
off like a shot to rally the Faithful Band. It hap- 
pened that he met Mr. Murphy before any of the 
Band. 

“I thought you were helping Mr. Boulby,” said 
Mr. Murphy. 

“So I was but — ^but — .” Willie’s pride in his 
secret and mystery was his downfall. From that 
moment he was an empty vessel in Mr. Murphy’s 
sight. 

That night found the brother and sister plying 
their spades in the garden. Their lantern was 
burning dimly, but it gave sufficient light to show 
the boys all they wished to see. 

“What did I tell yuh?” whispered Willie to his 
comrades of the Faithful Band. “Don’t that beat 
everything ? And here it was all the time and we 
didn’t know it.” 

“I’ll bet the old Captain was a pirate,” whis- 
pered Ned Larkins. 

“I’ll bet so, too,” whispered another. 

There is always somebody to throw cold water 
on our most cherished theories, as Willie Brown 
was soon to learn. 

“If you didn’t take that thing in your own 
hands and examine it, you don’t know what it 
was, Willie,” remarked Tom Parker. “There is a 


42 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


mystery here alright enough, but I wouldn’t say 
your’re right, Willie.” 

When they were a safe distance away they be- 
sought Tom to give them the benefit of his theory, 
but he absolutely refused. There was no good, he 
said, in his getting mixed up with it, for if he 
wasn’t mistaken there’d be trouble about this 
thing yet. Considerably sobered, the band dis- 
persed. 

The next day, though dejected and cast down, 
Willie Brown again circulated the fiery cross 
among his faithful followers, and did not even ex- 
cept the skeptic. He was fated to again fall in 
with Mr. Murphy, who had been doing some mid- 
night scouting himself and was therefore in both 
glee and perplexity. By a few skillful questions 
and tentative remarks, Mr. Murphy obtained all 
the information he could desire. 

The next day Joseph and his sister were feeling 
pretty stiff and sore after the unaccustomed ex- 
posure to the dew and cold. They decided not to 
work that night. 

“You had better drag that big packing box over 
the hole, Joseph,” said Miss Katherine. “Some- 
body might fall in and break a leg.” 

The Faithful Band appeared later than the pre- 
vious night. Mr. Murphy had dropped a hint 
about the folly of undertaking certain kinds of ex- 
peditions at any other time than midnight. They 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


43 


saw the faint outlines of the box but nothing else. 
At first they were discomfited and then elated. 
Ned Larkins said that they must climb over the 
fence into the garden and dig in the exact spot 
where the box then was. 

Tom Parker, the dissenter, being the oldest and 
biggest, was appointed leader. 

“No, sir!” declared he emphatically. “I know 
better than that. I’ve got too much sense to med- 
dle with that. The biggest detective in New York 
wouldn’t dare go and leave his tracks around there. 
Oh, no ! they’re too cute for that.” 

Tom, of course, meant to imply that he also 
was “too cute for that.” 

Willie had taken one snub from Tom and he 
was determined that should be the last. 

“You’re a calf,” was his polite reply to Tom as 
he vaulted over the fence. “Who’s goin’ to foller 
me?” 

They all followed, even Tom Parker. They ad- 
vanced cautiously. Willie’s temerity was moder- 
ating and he waited for the rest to come up with 
him. They advanced in a semicircle. As the wav- 
ering line was within ten yards of the box that 
object seemed to lift itself from the ground and 
a deep groan arose as from the bowels of the earth. 
Oh what a fright was that — ^my Faithful Banders ! 
In a moment the fence seemed alive with terrified 


44 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


and struggling boys. Mr. Murphy crawled out of 
his cramped quarters and went home. 

The boys had, of course, been properly sworn 
to secrecy, but somehow, the next day an uneasy 
feeling pervaded the village. No one seemed to 
possess any definite information, but there were 
rumors to the effect that there were peculiar folks 
now in the neighborhood; people weren’t really 
safe and Mrs. White could tell a good deal if she 
would. That lady had exercised a good deal of 
prudence and had said very little about the Boul- 
bys, but the day after the boys’ adventure she 
was credited with volumes. 

It was not long before the strong minded mother 
of a member of the Faithful Band had obtained 
from him enough to warrant her sending to all the 
matrons of the village a pressing invitation to tea 
that afternoon. It was a formidable group that 
foregathered that afternoon. The discoveries and 
adventures of the Band were duly narrated and 
embellished. 

Out of the chaos of frightful tales that flour- 
ished exceedingly and waxed more and more fear- 
ful, one could have deduced the fact that the 
Boulbys were nothing more or less than modem 
Blue-Beards. 

Well, their families had to be protected, and if 
they told the men all they knew it would be all 
over the country in no time, and for some reason 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


45 


they didn’t think that would be well. As far as 
they could see the best thing to be done was for 
them to investigate for themselves that very 
night. 

And so it was that for the third time the Boul- 
bys were to undergo a night attack. 

Miss Katherine was not the sort of woman to 
be caught sleeping. She had been unable to con- 
tinue the excavation, owing to a slight attack of 
rheumatism. She felt uneasy about so vast a 
treasure lying unguarded and begged Joseph to 
make himself some sort of shelter in the garden 
and keep watch during the night. 

“You wouldn’t have to keep awake all the time,” 
she said, “you’d hear any noise in your sleep and 
it would do you good to sleep out in the fresh air.” 

But Joseph was not a fresh air enthusiast, and 
the very idea of sleeping in the garden gave him 
rheumatic twinges. However, Miss Katherine 
was not to be balked. She took the faithful old 
dog Bruno by the collar and led him to the garden 
where she pointed out the box and explained his 
duty to him. Bruno understood and consented. 

“A woman has always one she can depend on, 
if she has a dog,” Miss Katherine cuttingly re- 
marked as she re-entered the house. 

Just a word about Mr. Murphy before we pro- 
ceed with the night attack. 


46 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


He had been very busy all day, walking about 
the village, chatting with the boys and gossiping 
with the women. There might have been method 
in his gossip, as he seem to elicit just what he 
desired. Towards evening he took a walk along 
the shore and held communion with himself. 

“I don’t think she’d call it chivalrous to scare 
them. But she’d rate it pretty high if I kept 
watch to come to the rescue of the besieged or the 
besiegers, whichever needs help.” 

As Mr. Murphy has reached this satisfactory 
conclusion we will leave him and return to follow 
the female posse across the fields to the Boulby’s 
garden. 

When the group of trembling females had 
reached the garden fence they beheld the confirm- 
ation of the boy’s story. 

There was a whispered discussion of the ad- 
visability of further investigation. The pros won 
and the means to this end now stared them in 
the face. 

The picket fence had presented no difficulties to 
the boys but it was a great obstacle to their moth- 
ers. To climb it was impossible. The only other 
way was to make a breach wide enough to admit a 
portly form. One picket was gone and they began 
loosening several on each side of the opening. It 
was difficult to do this and prevent the loosening 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


47 


nails from screeching. The process was a very 
slow one as such care had to be exercised. 

Meanwhile Bruno was quite cognizant of their 
presence and with bristling hair and bared teeth 
was crouching for an attack when further provo- 
cation should be given. 

The Boulbys had retired early, as neither was 
feeling very well, but towards midnight Miss 
Katherine awoke and began to think of poor old 
Bruno. She thought she would get up and peek 
out to see if he were all right. 

The trespassers were making sure but slow pro- 
gress and were still hanging on the pickets with 
their whole weight as Miss Katherine looked out 
of the window. She was not at all alarmed. She 
understood her own sex, her faithful dog and her 
own resources. 

The heaviest of the group had now been pressed 
into service as weights on the loosening pickets 
which suddenly surrendered with a frightful 
wrenching sound. Simultaneously with this noise 
there arose from the box a savage growl and a 
great, black beast threw himself into the air like 
an imprisoned spirit released from Hades. From 
the window had come a sharp report and from the 
opposite fence a yell that must have been emitted 
from a savage throat. 

At the too sudden surrender of the pickets four 
heavy females were precipitated against their 


48 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


companions and the whole posse fell in an inextri- 
cable mass upon the ground. 

Miss Katherine let the burst paper bag flutter 
to the ground as she hung upon the window cur- 
tain, helpless with laughter. 

Mr. Murphy scudded away from behind the 
fence ejaculating, 

“Bully for her! She doesn’t need a protector. 
It’s no wonder she’s set her heart on a romantic 
man.” 

When morning came and they could speak more 
calmly concerning their bruises the same females 
were again met in conclave. 

Some were for placing the matter in the hands 
of the constable, but this did not meet with unani- 
mous approval. 

“Poor old constable Wilson couldn’t get up 
enough courage to go there,” said one. 

“It would be a shame to ask him,” said another. 
“Everybody know’s he isn’t expected to look after 
anything dangerous. Such a thing as this was 
never heard of before in this neighborhood, so they 
just put in old man Wilson for he could keep the 
boys out of the orchards and ’tend pound and 
that’s about all there is to do in this neighborhood. 
Now isn’t there somebody that could handle them 
Boulbys?” 

“I’ve got a plan,” began an earnest faced ma- 
tron. “I think Mr. Horton’s the man to see to this. 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


49 


If he can’t exhort the evil spirit to come out of 
them Boulbys, nobody can. And he ain’t afraid 
of anything either. It’s his duty, too, to look after 
things like this, for we all know that the Evil One 
has taken control of the Boulbys, body and soul. 
But we won’t have to do any urging to get Mr. 
Horton to do his duty. Just last Sunday he said 
in his sermon that the scent of the battle and the 
battle cry was like perfume to his nostrils and 
music in his ears, when he could wage war upon 
the forces of evil.” 

“That’s a good plan,” agreed a sister in the 
church. “You’re right in saying he ain’t afraid of 
anything. His sermon last Sunday was a splendid 
one. I thought he’d break the old pulpit to pieces, 
he was that earnest. He preached about Gideon 
and Gideon always makes a good subject. Do you 
remember that he said that when he felt he was 
armed with the sword of the Lord and of Gideon 
he could face ten thousand foes ?” 

It was agreed that this fearless spirit would be 
undaunted by this task and a committee was ap- 
pointed to place the matter before him. 

Mr. Horton was a man, who, had he been of an- 
other religious persuasion, would have made one 
of Alva’s fiercest bloodhounds. He was untiring 
in his zeal for the cause he espoused. He knew not 
mercy and he gave no quarter in the battle. And 
so he listened with hardening face to the tale pour- 


50 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


ed forth by the suffering females, the most faith- 
ful of his flock. No need to urge him forward on 
the path of duty. He gave his word that he would 
go forth without delay to wrestle with the evil 
spirit that possessed these imfortunate people. 

And thus it was that Joseph caught sight of the 
ministerial form stalking up the walk just as his 
sister was concluding a recital of the events of the 
night before. 

“The minister ’s coming,” he warned Miss 
Katherine. “Don’t let him hear you laughing 
about scaring those women — ^likely it ’s that he ’s 
coming about.” 

“Nonsense!” exclaimed his sister. “I’d pretty 
soon tell him to mind his own business.” 

Grim and undaunted Mr. Horton stood upon the 
verandah, awaiting admittance. Not even the 
pleasant, welcoming smile upon Joseph’s mild and 
open countenance softened his austerity. 

“A wolf in sheep’s clothing, no doubt,” he said 
to himself. 

It was well that he had steeled his heart, for 
Miss Katherine was at her pleasantest this morn- 
ing, and she was very charming in that mood. But 
even she could not soften that heart of adamant. 

When he had seated himself he calmly began 
a searching scrutiny of the two faces before him. 
Perhaps he was a student of natural history and 
had learned that this was one way of taming wild 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


51 


animals, and as he had come to cage the roaring 
lion that walked up and down the world seeking 
whom he could devour, it would be well to follow 
approved methods. 

Mr. Horton was not a man to hesitate when his 
duty lay plain before him, so he informed the 
brother and sister that he had come to inquire 
after the welfare of their souls and to save them 
if they felt themselves lost and guilty sinners con- 
demned to a fearful punishment. 

Under this attack Joseph was more nettled than 
his sister. Miss Katherine told herself that he 
must be a religious fanatic and as they hadn’t yet 
attended church in Ocean View, he believed them 
to be godless people. 

“I have every sympathy with religious enthus- 
iasm,” she gently informed Mr. Horton, “but, of 
course, I don’t feel as strongly on the subject as 
you do.” 

This remark confirmed his wolf theory and he 
began to fear that he had to deal with the wiliest 
of Satan’s lieutenants. He thought he had better 
strengthen himself by a word of prayer so in- 
formed them that they must kneel with him, 

Joseph’s face grew dark, but Miss Katherine 
imperatively motioned to him to be silent and 
passive. Mr. Horton implored aid in the task he 
had undertaken and begged that he might be the 
instrument to bring these poor, lost, guilty souls 


52 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


to repentance. Under shelter of this storm of 
words Miss Katherine whispered to her brother 
that he must control himself and must not be vio- 
lent. 

When they rose from their knees, Mr. Horton 
was breathless, so Miss Katherine had him at her 
mercy. She politely asked him to excuse her 
brother as he was not feeling well, at which Joseph 
gratefully withdrew. 

“A guilty soul is a terrible thing. Miss Boulby,” 
said Mr. Horton mopping his forehead. 

“Yes, I suppose it must be,” she returned calmly, 
“but what is even worse is to have a mind that is 
constantly imagining evil in others. Now, Mr. 
Horton, the ladies of your church have quite ig- 
nored us since we came, but I should be very much 
pleased if Mrs. Horton and some of the prominent 
ladies in the church would call and we can discuss 
what I can do and where I can fit in in church 
work.” 

Mr. Horton fairly shone with triumph. Here 
was a repentant sinner. 

“There is joy among—” he began but that was 
too much for Miss Katherine. 

About this time Mr. Murphy was giving the 
pebbles on the shore the benefit of one of his 
frequent monologues: “I’ve seen them taken 
with it before,” he informed himself, “but 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


53 


never so bad as she’s got it. Treasure hunt- 
ing is like yellow fever. You’ve got to let 
it burn itself up. I should think her treas- 
ure hunting fever would be about cured, but you 
never can tell with a woman. Perhaps she’s onto a 
new place by this time. I hope she won’t go tear- 
ing the place down to see if there’s a secret cham- 
ber anywhere. I like her to enjoy herself, but 
she’s apt to get into trouble with Skinner if she 
destroys much property. I’ll have to think up 
some way of satisfying her or she’ll land in the 
penitentiary. 

“I wonder if she’s found any more qualities in 
the old Cap’s picture? I thing the picture’s got 
all the strength when she’s around, for dam me if 
I ain’t a sweak as water when she goes talking 
about him being the kind of man she admires! 
For I know that there’s just so many qualities 
that I’ll begin to dig up out of me or to plant in me. 
But she might come to the end of the choicest 
characteristics soon and give a feller time to cul- 
tivate a few.” 

The Captain tugged at a large volume in his 
pocket. He succeeded in tearing it out. The place 
where he had been reading was marked by a slip 
of paper upon which was a long list of books writ- 
ten in a feminine hand. The name of the volume 
Mr. Murphy was reading was the twenty-first on 
the slip and was ‘Treasure Island.’ 


54 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


“If I’d ever had a villian like that Silver around 
me I’d ’ve strung him up. Such dilly-dallying 
around makes me sick,” commented the reader. 

“Why, Mr. Murphy, do you talk to yourself or 
are you reading aloud. Your expression is won- 
derful if you were reading,” said the pleasant voice 
of Miss Boulby who had quite innocently chosen 
for her afternoon walk Mr. Murphy’s usual direc- 
tion. 

That gentleman jumped to his feet in great 
trepidation. What had he been saying? 

“Oh — ^why — ^I believe I was reading aloud. I get 
so interested in those books you were telling me 
about — the one’s the Captain read so much, you 
know, that I read aloud before I think.” 

Miss Katherine seated herself and motioned to 
Mr. Murphy to do the same. She picked up the 
book which had fallen in the reader’s surprise. 

“Treasure Island! That is a most delightful 
book. I am so glad you enjoy it. I do think that 
a man who can, as it were, live these adventures 
with Stevenson’s characters is as delightful and 
interesting a person as, — ^as even old John Silver 
himself,” said Miss Katherine with enthusiasm. 

“A-hem,” Mr. Murphy cleared his throat and 
rubbed his chin. “Do you like John Silver?” 

“I think he’s just fascinating, don’t you?” re- 
turned Miss Katherine. 

“Exactly, Miss Boulby. Fascinating’s the word 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


55 


I was hunting for just before you came up. But 
it 's the subject of the book itself that fetches me. 
I was always after hidden treasure, Captain 
Kidd’s and so on. I don’t suppose you were ever 
taken that way?” 

Miss Katherine looked at her questioner out of 
the corner of her eye, but he was gazing abstract- 
edly over the water. 

“Well, yes, I must confess that I have been 
rather interested in hidden treasures. But, of 
course, I have never done any actual hunting as I 
have never had any clues. But I should think it 
would be very interesting. Did you mean that 
you have actually sought a specific treasure?” 

“Not exactly that,” explained Mr. Murphy, “at 
least not till I came here.” 

Miss Katherine’s eyes grew wide. 

“I haven’t done any real diggin’ here yet,” he 
went on, “but I hope to begin soon. Now I don’t 
mind telling you for I’d like a partner, one who 
thinks as I do about it, you understand. It isn’t 
for the love of the money, you know, but the ro- 
mance, that’s it, the romance. Now you know all 
about Captain Kidd? 

Miss Katherine nodded. 

“Well, I’ve figured it out pretty well, and it’s 
my opinion that some of his horde lies right along 
this shore and not very far from here.” Mr. Mur- 


56 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


phy’s imagination was pretty well exhausted so 
he stopped to recuperate. 

“Along this shore and not far from here!” ex- 
claimed Miss Katherine. “Dear me I Who’d have 
thought it? But have you any maps or plans or 
charts or whatever tells you where to look?” 

Mr. Murphy’s imagination had taken a new lease 
on life. 

“I’ve got them hidden carefully in my rooms,” 
he explained. “I have been comparing them with 
the physiognomy of the shore here and I believe 
with a little help on the subject which you can sup- 
ply I would be able to identify the spot to-mor- 
row.” 

“I should love to help you,” exclaimed Miss 
Katherine. “It’s so very kind of you.” 

“Oh, no, no I” returned Mr. Murphy. “It’s only 
just now since you told me that you were inter- 
ested in treasure seeking that I have really en- 
joyed thinking about it.” 

“You said you had always been interested in 
hidden treasures,” Miss Katherine reminded him. 

Mr. Murphy’s face grew red. He hastened to 
explain : 

“I mean that the books that I’ve been reading 
under your direction have been so interesting that 
I couldn’t bear to stop reading and look for the 
treasure.” 

Miss Katherine beamed. 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


57 


“We will search together,” she said coyly. 

As they were walking home together, Mr. Mur- 
phy observed casually — 

“A friend of mine who was a great friend of 
Captain Shannon’s told me once that the Captain 
had produced a new species of rose and that he 
had been awarded a gold medal by the American 
Horticultural Society. The Captain told my friend 
that used to wear it on his chain but he lost it 
while working in his garden here. Wasn’t it a 
pity ? I don’t suppose you have ever come across 
it?” 

“Not that I know of,” returned Miss Katherine 
composedly. 

When she got home she went immediately to 
the library and to the drawer that held the ancient 
golden coin that Joseph had found. She took it 
to the kitchen where she scraped and brushed it 
well. Behold! there was the name of the Ameri- 
can Horticultural Society on one side and on the 
other the inscription: 

“Consequitar quodcunque petit!” 

When Mr. Horton returned from his visit to the 
Boulbys, he told his wife of the gratifying results 
and of Miss Boulby’s wish that she and other 
church workers would call upon her. 

“The brother was strangely moved,” concluded 
Mr. Horton, “and the sister was greatly softened.” 


58 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


Mrs. Horton and her friends did not delay call- 
ing upon Miss Boulby. That lady has been walk- 
ing on air since the above-related conversation 
with Mr. Murphy and was in a very sweet and 
forgiving mood. She allowed her callers to talk 
just as much as they pleased and on the subject 
dearest to them. They discussed and re-discussed 
every phase of church work. Miss Katherine pro- 
fessed herself willing to make endless quilts for 
the missionary box, pin-cushions for the bazaar, 
socks for the Old Men’s Home and cakes for the 
sewing circle. The minister’s wife was dazed by 
such liberality and when Miss Katherine spoke of 
the number of years her brother had been deacon 
in their home church, and of her own activities in 
every conceivable church society, the ladies felt 
that a terrible injustice had been done this exem- 
plary brother and sister. 

When Miss Katherine had seen that her words 
fell on receptive ground she still mellowed that soil 
by tempting refreshments after which she pro- 
posed a walk in the garden. As Joseph was from 
home she offered slips, roots and seeds without 
number. At last she came to a rose tree which, 
she judged, would do as well as any other and she 
launched into the story of Captain Shannon’s ex- 
periments to produce a new species and final 
triumph. 

“We knew,” said the unblushing Miss Katherine, 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


69 


“that he had been awarded a medal by the Ameri- 
can Horticultural Society. Mr. Murphy, who is 
an old friend of the Captain’s, told us he had lost 
the medal in the garden, so we began looking for 
it. Come with me and I’ll show you where we 
found it.” 

Miss Katherine did so, elaborating on the trou- 
ble they had taken to discover it. 

“It is solid gold,” said she, “and we were afraid 
that the boys might suspect what we were look- 
ing for and come at night and hunt for it, so we 
set Bruno to watch at night, but forunately we 
found it. Come in the house and I’ll show it to 
you.” 

As Miss Katherine watched her visitors go away 
she said to herself : 

“I confess that all I said this afternoon was not 
strictly true, but there are times when a prudent 
woman will deviate somewhat from the exact 
truth.” 

When Miss Katherine had bade Mr. Murphy 
good afternoon, on the day of his startling dis- 
closure concerning Captain Kidd’s treasure, the 
aforementioned gentleman fell to chuckling. 

“I’m in a devil of a fix, but I’ve saved the house 
from destruction, that’s sure. I’ll trust her to 
make peace with the neighbors and then I’ll grad- 
ually ease her off the Captain Kidd proposition and 


60 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


then there should be plain sailing. But Jehosa- 
phat! What about that chart? Well, I’ll just 
have to get some paper and a pencil and go back 
to the shore and draw it, that’s all. I can’t lie 
worth a darn. I’ve got to get myself in a worse 
mess everytime instead of lying out. 

So saying, Mr. Murphy procured the paper and 
pencil and retraced his steps to the shore where he 
labored long and arduously, for he was neither an 
artist nor a cartographer. 

In a couple of days Mr. Murphy informed Miss 
Katherine that he thought he had located the 
right spot and that afternoon, they would begin 
their search. Miss Katherine was to join him at 
the spot where she had found him the day they 
became partners in this aifair. He would be laden 
with the necessary tools. Miss Katherine asked 
if she should bring a bag in case of success, but 
Mr. Murphy said no, they were more apt to find 
it if they acted as if they thought they wouldn’t. 

At the appointed time and place the junction of 
the forces was successfully accomplished. 

Miss Katherine and Mr. Murphy sat down side 
by side to study the chart. The latter explained 
that he had worn out the original and this was a 
copy he had made. The chart fully came up to 
Miss Katherine’s idea of a chart. 

“Now you can see if you study it,” exclaimed 
Mr. Murphy, “that it’s this bit of shore that’s 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


61 


meant. See where it juts out here by the pine 
tree! Well, just look down the shore there and 
you’ll see the very spot. From there just follow 
along and compare the chart with the shore. Line 
for line, ain’t they ?” 

“Isn’t that remarkable !” exclaimed Miss Kath- 
erine. “What a wonderful observer you must be 
to have noticed the similarity ! But wouldn’t you 
think there would be changes in the shore line 
since the time this chart was made ?” 

“Well, you see it’s sheltered here,” returned 
Mr. Murphy. “That makes a big difference.” 

“Oh does it?” cried Miss Katherine. 

“Oh, yes!” replied Mr. Murphy. 

“And now where is the treasure?” asked Miss 
Katherine. 

“Well, the first place I’d try is right in this little 
hollow. We’ll go right along to it.” 

Mr. Murphy shouldered his spade, pick and axe 
and directed Miss Katherine to the spot, a little 
sandy hollow between two little sandy mounds. 

“Now you must keep guard while I dig,” said 
Mr. Murphy. “It wouldn’t do to let others into 
the secret you know.” 

Miss Katherine was quite disappointed, for she 
had anticipated watching the excavation sink 
deeper and deeper until the spade suddenly struck 
the iron lid of a box, and a king’s ransom glowed 


62 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


at their feet. But she realized the wisdom of this 
request and uncomplainingly complied with it. 

In silence and with inward protest Mr. Murphy 
plied his spade until he was obliged to straighten 
his aching back. He looked at his task mistress 
entreatingly, but she was on guard and had no 
eyes for the toiler. The poor man gazed about 
him in distress. Would he fall from grace if he 
took a little rest? 

Fortunately for Mr. Murphy, at this moment, 
Miss Katherine's eye fell upon the little lunch bas- 
ket she carried. A pang of remorse shot through 
her heart as she turned and beheld her hero lean- 
ing wearily upon his spade. 

At the suggestion of lunch Mr. Murphy climbed 
out of prison with such alacrity that Miss Kathe- 
rine’s soft heart suffered another pang. But as 
pity is akin to another, warmer and tendered pas- 
sion let us hope all was working for the highest 
good of Miss Katherine and Mr. Murphy. 

Whatever hopes of a prolonged rest that gentle- 
man had at first entertained were soon destroyed 
by a word or two from his inexorable partner, and 
again the gentle chuck, chuck as the spade struck 
against the soft sand, was the only sound that 
broke the silence. 

Miss Katherine, though not watching the dig- 
ger, kept time with his steady spade and strained 
her ear to catch a clink instead of a click. That 


EXCAVATING A HUSBAND. 


63 


would announce the bursting of an old leather 
bag or the striking upon an iron box. There it 
would be ! Gold ! Gold glittering in the light after 
years of darkness! 

‘‘Damn it broke in upon Miss Katherine's gol- 
den dream. 

In mild surprise she turned about and beheld 
her erstwhile obedient partner hurl his spade 
from him and scramble out of the deep hole he 
had dug. Rebellion was written on his face, but 
as he approached Miss Katherine there was some- 
thing much softer and infinitely agreeable to the 
female eye in his expression. 

“Confound it all said Captain Peter Shannon, 
“let’s stop this foolishness and get married." 






























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